Reading Diary A: Week 6

I am reading Narayan's Mahabharata!
Reading Guide


I plan on finishing this epic within a day or so, but so far I do really like how it is progressing.


As I stated last week, I found it really surprising that Yudhishthira lost control and ended up losing everything!
Even his own wife, that was the one thing I thought would be essentially untouchable.

• Following a second dice game, Yudhishthira loses again and is forced to go into exile in the forest, for twelve years with the last year in a city but they must be incognito.
• If not they will be subjected to another twelve year exile.
• Everyone is so frustrated and yearning for the time to fly by. Yudhishthira is visited by Krishna and assures him that his enemies will be slain.
• Essentially Draupadi goes off on Yudhishthira for allowing her and his brothers to go through such humiliation
• Arjuna receives divine weapons, after being told a mantra given to Yudhishthira by Krishna to aid in their ventures.
• Arjuna is cursed by Urvashi while visiting Indra, for avoiding her advances, to live as a eunuch among women. Which ended up being a blessing when they went into the city to live incognito.
• Each brother and Draupadi assumes a different identity to live in a city unnoticed 
• Their cousins are of course scouring the land trying to use spies to find them. 
• Every brother except Yudhishthira dies after not heeding the word of the voice of a lake they encounter.
• Ends up being a test by the god of Justice

Arjuna
Image Source: Wikipedia

Thoughts About Comments!

I feel like any kind of comment is a good thing, right? But the comments I like the best are those that have constructive criticism within them. Something that will truly help my story telling and writing for the better.  Both positive and negative feedback help in many ways. I know we don't like hearing the negatives but, I feel like we can learn from it and keep these comments in mind when we try to write. Now, not saying plain old mean comments, but those that point out our flaws so we don't repeat them. I feel like I speak very honestly in my comments, but maybe I should be more constructive with them

Reading Diary B: Narayan's Mahabharata

Narayan's Mahabharata Reading Guide


I have continued this week's reading of the Mahabharata!

Some notes from the reading:

• Draupadi was wed to the five brothers, after their mother mistakenly tells them to share whatever they have acquired that day. Not knowing what they were referring to.
• Vyasa, after being called for advice, tells her father the King that in a previous life she also essentially had five husbands, who would come into one being at the end. Her past self was promised five husbands in this lifetime by Shiva
• Duryodhana, after heading his son's pleas to get rid of his cousins, the Pandavas, is mortified to find out that they are indeed still alive. He hopes to fix things by sending this gifts in an attempt to have them on his side as well. 
• He sends for them to come back to Hastinapura, and gives them a part of his kingdom to run in attempt to make amends.
• The land that is given to them to rule is actually a desert barren land
• In this land, they build a prosperous city.
• Ajuna is exiled for twelve years because he stumbled upon his brother and Draupadi in intimacy.
• After visiting his cousin's kingdom, Duryodhana becomes green with envy
• In attempt to extract revenge, Duryodhana wants to challenge them to a game of dice, in a great hall built solely to try to outdo their's in their kingdom
• Yudhishthira loses everything, after losing his judgement he finally stakes everything and everyone of value to him, with the final bet being Draupadi.
• In an attempt to humiliate her, Duryodhana makes her undress and she pleads for them to spare her from exposure
• She pleads with Krishna to assist her and every time her garment is pulled off another shows up in it's place, again and again.

Celestial stripping of Draupadi's sari
Image Source: Flickr

Reading Diary A: Narayan's Mahabharata

I have decided to read Narayan's Mahabharata! 

Here are some key points that really stood out to me form today's reading:

• Sanatanu was a king who ruled over a kingdom. The capital of said kingdom was Hastinapura.
• While out hunting, he met a maiden at a river and became instantly enamored with her. She agreed to marry him, but only if he never questioned what she did, and if he did this then she would never leave his side. I might try this out in my own personal life....
• His wife bears seven children and immediately drowns each one shortly after birth, much to his surprise and despair, but he keeps his word.
• Once the eighth baby is born however, he is compelled to finally object and question why she is doing this to every child she bears
• She reveals that she is the Goddess Ganga, from the river where they first met
• She took human form to bear King Santanu's children, for he was the only one worthy.
• She explained that the children were vasus, who were cursed to be born on earth only to shortly return to heaven after their birth. This was with exception of the eighth babe, who she spared. His fate was to continue existence as a brilliant man, but with a lifetime vow of celibacy.
• Once grown Devavratha was renamed Bhishma, which means "one of firm vow"
• His father the king was in love with a fisherman's daughter, but didn't marry her because her father demanded that her heirs would be his successors.
• Once Bhishma found out he held back because he meet the father's demands, he personally went to fetch the bride for his father, promising he would stay a bachelor until his dying day and promising her sons would succeed the king. 
• King Pandu's wife Kunti, had the ability to bear the children of any god is she so wanted to. At the bequest of King Pandu she had three sons with three different deities, for he was cursed to die at the first attempt at intimacy with his wives. One son, who was conceived before she married King Pandu, was named Kama. He was the son of the Sun God, and he had the most radiant personality. 

  

  Shantu meets a beautiful woman on the river Ganga
  Image Source: Wikipedia

Week 4 Review

I found this little growth mindset meme on Sunday's announcements and thought I'd share because I liked it! Gives me a little push.

Growth Mindset Meme
Source

Famous Last Words: Week 4

What a hectic week this has been! For this week I had to end up reading a more condensed version of the Ramayana, The Divine Archer, and it was indeed very enjoyable. And although it was a more condensed version it did help me understand the overall plot of the Ramayana in its entirety. I did have a big problem catching up these past few weeks. I knew with the work schedule I had it and the amount of hours I work would be very difficult to manage this class but I had been doing fine. Everything had just caught up to me and I fell behind. I picked up so much overtime at work not thinking about how it could have affected me. I figured I would be fine and now I realize I do need that time off to focus on my studies in general in their entirety.  I really don't want to have to do this again. I don't like at all feeling like I'm essentially treading water and barely making it by. I must learn to manage my time better. That is something I do need to work on. I hope to see my progress later on in the semester and look back at this situation as a growing experience!

I do also notice that I sometimes suffer from bad writers block. No matter what I try I will often sit there and try to find good ways to fit a certain story and try to make it a new tale with no avail. I might have to go and look at older examples of stories from previous semesters to see if one can give me an idea.

So far, my math journey has been iffy. I have an exam this week and hope to do well. I do have a very strong dislike for math as we all know, but I hope to conquer the beast that is Biz Calc!


Here's a tiny hedgehog cheerleader, because just like me, we all need a cute motivator!

Encouragement via Hedgehog!
Image Source: Flickr

Week 3: Brainstorming Styles!

Topic: Well, for my storybook I figured since I was very enamored with the idea of interweaving the Patil twins from Harry Potter into the world of Indian Epics I would do my best to do so as smoothly as possible. Reading though some of the stories I found two that caught my attention and made me really think of ways I could successfully incorporate both worlds into some interesting tales. One was The Lord of Lanka: The Rise and Fall of a Demon King (Volume 541) . The other story is The Sons of Rama: Luv and Kush -- The Invincible Twins (Volume 503). Of course there are a plethora of stories that I can find with more research and as we go through the semesters' readings. I will attempt to find some more stories that are similar to those of the Potter books and focus on common themes. 

Bibliography:

• The Lord of Lanka: The Rise and Fall of a Demon King, from the Amar Chitra Katha, Volume  541 by Anant Pai (1999).
• The Sons of Rama: Luv and Kush -- The Invincible Twins, from the Amar Chitra Katha, Volume 503 by Anant Pai (1999)

Possible Styles:

Campfire Story: This approach is not something I would have thought of at first, but I would be pretty interesting to make one of the character's tell a great story to a younger generation around a campfire or something similar. I think a more modern twist to the story would be interesting.  Possibly a tale of a great battle between good and evil? 

Story from an Ancestor: Okay, now this is a little bit similar to the campfire story, but in this particular style it would most definitely have to be the main protagonist who tells a story to descendants a few generations down the line. I would probably have the tale be told only to reveal at the end to the younger characters that it was in fact their relative telling the story that was in the midst of it. 

Children as the Audience: This would be a great way to tackle this too! It could be a story geared towards children, most likely in the third person. I feel like I could have a lot of fun with this particular approach. I could probably also add some elements from popular Western children's tales. Maybe from the Grimm Bros. Fairy Tales. 

Diary (First Person Storyteller): With a diary approach, it would be easier to add a lot of detail and first hand emotion from the point of view of one of the characters in the story. A real opportunity to show personal emotion and let it all shine through, in the head of the storyteller. Although it would be very detailed, I think maybe this would be one of the easiest approaches for me to do. 

Sita, with her twins Luv and Kush
Image Source: Flickr

Picking my brain for some topics! Week 2

Okay, so I sometimes just randomly sit and have these deep conversations with myself. These mental conversations sometimes happen during 3 a.m in the middle of a shift, when delirium usually sets in. And during the past few days I've been attempting to come up with some original ideas that I could possibly use for my portfolio/storybook. A great idea was actually brought up by Professor Gibbs in a comment on my Introduction blog post. As we may or may not know, I'm slightly obsessed with the magical world of Harry Potter, and two of the characters, the Patil twins, would be an amazing way to incorporate my love for this series and famous Indian epics into an awesome story! So here are four different topics that would be great to explore for a big project at the end of the semester. 

• Gods and Goddesses: A topic I always enjoyed exploring, even before this class. Now, one of the Patil twins is named Parvati, which is the Hindu Goddess of love, fertility, and devotion. Since Parvati is named after this goddess I think it could make for a great story line! I just need to find a way to develop a good plot and read some more to really get my gears turning. 



Parvati is expressed in many different aspects. As Annapurna she feeds, as Durga (shown above) she is ferociousImage Source: Wikipedia

• Research: So far I've only delved into the link that Professor Gibbs gave me which was the main Wikipedia page for the goddess Parvati. I have come to learn that Parvati is married to the Hindu deity Shiva. Shiva is "the destroyer, recycler and re-generator of universe and all life". Parvati is also expressed in many aspects, giving her over a hundred different names in Hindu mythologies. 
• Families/Siblings: Since the Patil twins are obviously sisters, I thought this would be a good topic to cover. Apart from Parvati having a name connected to the goddess, Padma's name means 'sacred lotus', 



The Hindu goddess Lakshmi holding & standing on a lotus, Raja Ravi Varma painting.
Image Source: Wikipedia

• Research:  Padma's name means sacred lotus, and in Hindu culture the lotus is associated with god's such as Brahma, Vishnu and Lakshmi. The lotus is also associated with purity and wholesome beauty. According Lotus Sculpture, it is considered the favorite flowers of the Hindu gods and goddesses. It is used to describe feminine beauty and is above all used to describe the beauty of woman's eyes. 
• Rakshasas (Demons): I usually gravitate towards anything supernatural and weird in real life. Being Roman Catholic also fueled my fascination with exorcisms and demons as well. And being a fan of shows such as Supernatural, where demons play a big role I think I can think up some good plots. It will be interesting to try to intertwine some of the stories that are to come in the Ramayana with a more modern twist. 
• Research: So far I'm going to try to read up more on Rakshasas and their role in Indian folklore and such since there is probably a different take on them compared to what I know now. As I read the Ramayana it will add more fuel to my thought process. Although, the origin of the word is quite interesting. According to Wiki, the actual name Rakshasas was given to demons for it was what Brahma uttered after they tried to eat him after he created them. Brahma uttered "Rakshama", which is the Sanskrit phrase for 'protect me!", which prompted Vishnu to come to his rescue. 
• Love Stories: I'm a stickler for romanticism, so  I think I will have fun with this overall theme.  I especially love the courtship story between Sita and Rama, which is why I wrote my own version of it for my Storytelling Week 2. Love stories can take so many twists and turns and it is possible to make them stray away from the stereotypical "happily ever after", which was mentioned in one of the Indian Epics blog posts for the course, does happen between Sita and Rama. 
• Research: Since this theme is so broad, finding a specific source for it might be a little tricky. I'm going to generally count on the reading itself to find a good baseline for my potential stories. 

Storytelling Week 2: The Tale of Roman and Sophia

Roman was an adventurous lad, with the presence of authority and an intoxicating charm that could turn any sour mood into a much more pleasant mood.  Needless to say, he and his brother Lance were inseparable, and very much alike. Both were on a study abroad trip in Barcelona and had just arrived to soak in the splendor and rich history of this Spanish city.

An aerial view of Madrid
Source: Pixabay

As they were traveling to their hotel, they noticed the city abuzz with excitement, everyone dressed in their Sunday best, with colorful paper decorations along the walls of the buildings. Children were out in the streets with colorful ribbons and Spanish flags, waving them around in the most delighted manner. This was a very big environmental change from their hometown of New York City, where sometimes you wouldn't find the happiest of people on the streets, and just the big city environment in general. They were informed that the running of the bulls was that very day and the royal Spanish family would be coming to attend. "Well, what do you know? We came just in the nick of time to catch the excitement!" Roman exclaimed. They walked down the decently crowded street when suddenly he ran into a girl. Their eyes met, and it was as if the world around them had completely come to a stop. It was as if she had become the center of his universe, and nothing else but them mattered. But in that split second, she was hurried away before he could even utter an apology. Not to long after Roman was also rushed by his brother to get to their hotel so they could leave their luggage and join the festivities.

The girl who Roman bumped into in the street was none other than Sophia, the King's second daughter. She liked to wander the city without drawing too much attention to herself, dressing in clothes that wouldn't give away her status. Right after that encounter, she rushed back to her hotel before anyone could suspect that she'd been gone to long. Once there, she was not in her right state of mind. The ladies in charge of handling her could not for the life of them figure out why she was in such a downright awful mood. Nothing seemed to please her, and every attempt to do so failed miserably. Letizia, her governess and close friend since she was small, asked her what was wrong, and she was met with incoherent answers. It wasn't until they were alone that Sophia sighed and spoke with such tenderness of the perfect stranger she had just met while out on her stroll. "It's as if he stole a part of me, nana, what can I ever do? It's as if in that split second he stole my heart and with that my ease. He bewitched me with those smoldering eyes and I will never be able to take this dagger out of my heart. He is probably gone for good and I don't even know his name...."

With this she began to weep, and Letizia knew not what to do but exit quietly from Sophia's room and excuse her from the festivities with her parents. 

All throughout the day Roman was not all there, his mind lingering on that beautiful girl he encountered on that busy cobblestone street. Lance did nothing but question his lack of interaction. Surely, his brother would be more enthused being in such a grand city, and at such a festive time none the less! But he walked the streets in an absentminded manner, almost as if in a serene trance. Not sure what to do, Lance just shook his head and carried on with their trek to their final destination. Once at the venue where the run would begin, he saw the royal family assembled in a balcony dressed in their finest garments. Surely such fine clothing could only belong to royalty. The jewels in their crowns and tiaras glinting in the Spanish sunlight caused a beautiful array of tiny reflective sports to dance on the walls surrounding them with the tiniest movement.

King Felipe was eager to find a young man who was worthy of the hand of his second daughter Sophia. Royal bloodlines didn't matter to this king. All that mattered was the man that he was and his moral fiber.He will admit that he was a jealous father and nothing was ever good enough for his youngest. He'd had many a prince come from all over Europe asking for her hand and he found none with that spark to hand her over to. He had passed over many proposals that would secure strong alliances with Spain, yet none ever showed the true capacity to become a husband to his daughter. Many thought that with the king being as picky as he was, Spain would not see another royal wedding for quite a long time. 

Running of the Bulls
Wikimedia

As the event began and Roman saw the bulls race down the cobblestone streets, his heart stopped --he saw a young girl race out in front of the oncoming stampede, small enough to sneak past the barriers to retrieve her rogue puppy. With no thinking on his behalf, and to the horror of the crowd, Roman thrust himself over the barrier and snatched up the little girl, outrunning the oncoming stampede and right into an open alleyway. Finally they were both safe. His heart was beating so fast it was likely to burst out of his chest. He waited for the stampede to pass to return the crying child to the safety of her parents' embrace. Lance stood waiting for him and greeted him with an exasperated look on his face, the anxiety apparent on his chiseled features. The crowd on the other hand, welcomed him with cheers and applause. There were many hands patting him on the back as we walked towards his brother. 

After this, a man came to fetch Roman, and with Lance accompanying him he was presented to King Felipe in a private room. And with a smile, he asked Roman about himself, from his origin to what he was doing in Madrid. After a few minutes, he sent for his youngest daughter.

"Roman, there's someone I'd like you to meet...."

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Authors Note:

I don't even know I managed to get the jumble of ideas I had in my head into a coherent succession of sentences to be honest. I really loved the tale of how Rama met his wife Sita and the romance behind it. The 'love at first sight' aspect, I mean. I know I left it at a cliffhanger, but if we know the original tale, then we know how it all ends, right? I hope so. Well, I tried to give it a very modern twist. I guess that's the beauty of writing; everything is a figment of your imagination when it comes to storytelling. Anything is possible!
I thought it would be cool to incorporate the Pamplona bull run since I set this version of the story in Spain, considering it's a big event and important to the culture. It involves a great amount of festivities, similar to the scene in which Rama first entered Mithila, with its bright colors and the streets alive with the hustle and bustle of cheerful inhabitants. Overall, I chose this story because for this week's reading, this particular portion stood out to me, and as I mentioned before, it's a true romantic tale, even similar to something along the lines of Romeo and Juliet. It's not the same, but a great love story all the same. 

"The Wedding" by R.K. Narayan, from The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (2006). eBook.  

Narayan's Ramayana Reading Guide

Reading Diary A: Narayan's Ramayana

I decided to download the e-book version of Narayan's Ramayana to my iPad, and I'm very happy with this option because it makes it so easy to highlight and make my own annotations to any passage that I like. And, hey, one less book to carry around, right?

One of the passages that most caught my attention was the story of Thataka, as told by Viswamithra when they were walking through the desert wasteland in which Thataka resided.

A passage from the book that I felt really describes her well is:

"She is a scorcher. She carries a trident with spikes; a cobra entwined on her arm is an armlet. The name of this fearsome creature is Thataka. Just as the presence of a little loba (meanness) dries up and disfigures a whole human personality, so does the presence of this monster turn into desert a region which was once so fertile. In her restlessness she constantly harasses the hermits at their prayers; she gobbles up anything that moves and sends it down her entrails".

-Narayan's Ramayana; Page 12

Rama killing Thakata
Wikipedia

It's very tragic. Thakata and her two sons we considered a form of demi-god and their actions caused them to fall from grace and become these demon like creatures, with Thakata bent on destroying all form of life and consuming it.

"You will learn the answer if you listen to this story-of a woman fierce, ruthless, eating and digesting all living creatures, possessing the strength of a thousand mad elephants".

-Viswamithra, Narayan's Ramayana

Another story that I found to be very interesting is Ahalya's story.

Ahalya was created out of absolute beauty by Brahma and given to Gautama as a bride after he looked after her while she grew up. Indra was infatuated with Ahalya and her beauty. After a while he succumbed to his temptations and physically had her by taking the form of her husband after he had left for his morning ritual.

After sensing something wrong, Gautama returned only to find his wife in bed, physically intimate with an impostor. I think it's a really unusual way to punish Indra but in a weird way it was due. Indra was cursed to be covered in female genitalia while he looked onto his wife and made her a formless slab of stone, only to be returned to her original form once Rama walked past her in that state. 

Alhalya bows to Rama
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